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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. hand — in cards
  4. chip — to eat
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. chip — for betting
  9. degree — from a university
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. hand — help
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. degree — temperature
  17. key — in music
  18. key — the most important part
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. degree — an amount

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com